The resepi coms from as out of the mountäns, wär the schäperds lifd, olso in the bäckest ädges up in the mountäns änd rärli caim doun into the väli. From thär… wär the fox änd the räbbit say good night änd the moun schains braiter denn in the väli. From up tär, abov the fog.

The artist Piroska Szönye, from Chur in Switzerland, believes paper can change people’s way of looking at the world. With her paper and collage art she wants people to think outside the box, create magic and challenge their emotions about the value of things.

Switzerland’s most famous folk stories are the ones about Heidi. The young, orphaned girl who grows up with her peculiar grandfather in the Alps of Switzerland. Heidi sees good in everyone, is grateful for what she has and has a great love for animals and nature. Piroska finds herself relating with the character a lot, and sees much of herself in Heidi. She even lives twenty minutes away from the famous Heidi Village, right outside Chur. Piroska and Heidi also share the same values: to be noble and good. Piroska wanted to develop the strong connection she felt for the girl in the stories, but didn’t exactly know how. The only thing she knew was that she was destined to be an artist. Her biggest wish when she was a child was to paint. She was sent to an art school with a famous artist as a teacher, and the classes were late in the evening. Piroska was only ten years old – the youngest student at the school – but probably the most dedicated.

– My teacher thought me, that as an artist you live through your painting. When you paint, your ears hear the painting. You can smell and even taste your painting. In the end, you become the painting. Today, when I paint, I lose track of time and space, I forget to eat and I disappear into the painting and its creation. It’s amazing that I can be such an organized person outside the atelier, but when I create I really let go of that control, says Piroska.

”What I imagine and then later create often has a starting point as a dream. In a book, for example, I can dream whole sentences, which I write down as soon as I wake up” Photo: Benedikt Ziegler

In order to know what kind of art people wanted and to create the right styles, Piroska studied Management of Culture. She wanted to know as much as possible about how the industry and how the market worked. Photo: Benedikt Ziegler

Piroska makes art mostly out of paper, but here is a piece made out of bread! Photo: Benedikt Ziegler

Being able to stand with one foot in the artist’s creative world and one foot where she understands how the art business works, has been of great benefit to Piroska. Photo: Benedikt Ziegler

”What I imagine and then later create often has a starting point as a dream. In a book, for example, I can dream whole sentences, which I write down as soon as I wake up” Photo: Benedikt Ziegler

Piroska Szönye, from Chur in Switzerland. With her paper and collage art she wants people to think outside the box – and create magic! Photo: Benedikt Ziegler

The dreaming of ideas

In order to know what kind of art people wanted and to create the right styles, Piroska also studied Management of Culture. She wanted to know as much as possible about how the industry and market worked, and how, for example, gallerists looked at art and artists. Being able to stand with one foot in the artist’s creative world and one foot on the other side, where she understands how the art business works, has been of great benefit to Piroska. She explains that she sometimes feels like two people – in addition to her connection with the Heidi character – one of whom is very structured and organized and the other who doesn’t even remember to eat a proper lunch.

– I like both my sides, they have shaped me and made me who I am today. My mind and my thoughts are like a theater. It’s like I’m watching all the ideas that come in and which I then can process like an audience. It may sound strange, but it works for me, says Piroska.

The ideas for her artworks and her books, which often involve paper, come to Piroska in her dreams.

– What I imagine and then later create often has a starting point as a dream. In a book, for example, I can dream whole sentences, which I write down as soon as I wake up. Because of that, I try to keep an open mind, so I can be as receptive as possible to the dreams, says Piroska.

“I TRIED TO PLAY WITH PEOPLE MINDS AND PRECONCEIVED OPINIONS ABOUT WHAT ART IS WORTH. A PIECE OF PAPER ISN’T JUST PAPER AND DOES NOT COUNT AS TRASH JUST BECAUSE YOU CRUMPLE IT. “

Challenging the value of paper

A piece of paper can change the world. Those are Piroska’s words of wisdom, which she always tries to demonstrate with her exhibitions, projects and books. Recently, she made a gallery installation of crumpled paper – a meter in height – involving 100 pieces of paper with an invitation on the front and a piece of art on the back. Piroska wanted to convey that the value of paper is in the eyes of the beholder.

– I tried to play with people minds and preconceived opinions about what art is worth. A piece of paper isn’t just paper and does not count as trash just because you crumple it. The art piece develops, takes new shapes and still has a value and a purpose, says Piroska.

Her art has brought her a lot of attention, and many people now know who she is. Among other things, several local newspapers covered a project where she built a house of children’s books. Many people appreciated the project and were astonished by her new way of thinking, while questioning that the house was outdoors and could easily be destroyed.

– I made it for children who die at a young age, and that’s the reason it was made out of children’s books and stood outside. Regardless the weather, if it’s raining, snowing or the sun is shining, we are carrying the love and the light with us in our hearts. That was my point. So, the house had to stand outside, become wet and, to some extent, fall apart. The motif with the artwork did not lose value because of it, it was elevated and the message strengthened, says Piroska.

Recently, she made a gallery installation of crumpled paper – a meter in height – involving 100 pieces of paper with an invitation on the front and a piece of art on the back. Photo: Piroska private

She explains that she sometimes feels like two people, one of whom is very structured and organized and the other who doesn’t even remember to eat a proper lunch. Photo: Benedikt Ziegler

Her art has brought her a lot of attention, and many people now know who she is. Among other things, several local newspapers covered a project where she built a house of children’s books. Photo: Benedikt Ziegler

A piece of paper can change the world. Those are Piroska’s words of wisdom, which she always tries to demonstrate. Photo: Benedikt Ziegler

”I made it for children who die at a young age, and that’s the reason it was made out of children’s books and stood outside” Photo: Piroska private

Recently, she made a gallery installation of crumpled paper – a meter in height – involving 100 pieces of paper with an invitation on the front and a piece of art on the back. Photo: Piroska private

She explains that she sometimes feels like two people, one of whom is very structured and organized and the other who doesn’t even remember to eat a proper lunch. Photo: Benedikt Ziegler

FACTSName: Piroska SzönyeTitle: ArtistFavorite material: All kinds of paperFavorite tool: Making art! Be in the flow of making art and making people happy.Web: https://piroskakunst.ch/

IDA Announces Winners of 11th Annual Design Competition! (Tuesday, May 22, 2018) In its 11th Annual Edition, the International Design Awards (IDA) received over 3,100 designs submitted by companies and designers from 95 countries. Cutting-edge designs and innovative products from around the world vied for the top prizes in this prestigious award, which, in recent years, has risen to become one of the leading design awards in America.
Entries were submitted in 5 major design categories: Architecture, Interior Design, Graphic
Design, Product Design, and Fashion Design. And after much anticipation the jury’s selection for this year’s prestigious “Design of the Year” awards have been announced in both the professional and student divisions. The stellar international Jury evaluated the entries based not only on the highest of current design standards and trends, but also seeking out truly visionary designers who would take the creative leap and lead the way into the future.

HEIDI AND FRIENDS (COOKINGARTPHILOSOPHYPOETRYBOOK)

CompanyOwadja & Gstrein Designs

DesignerPiroska Szönye, Hannah Gstrein & Jonathan Owadja

CreditsPrinting house: Wolfau-Druck AG

Prize1st Place in Print / Books

Entry DescriptionThe fictional Swiss girl Heidi has been revived by artist Piroska Szönye and now, as a grown-up, her story is being continued. The result is an unique piece which gives you the impression of holding Heidi’s own handwritten recipe book in your hands. Each of the manufactured 4444 copies are unique. Several recipes containing cheese, butter, bread and meat are written onto food wrapping paper and numerous inlays attest to artisan skills. The book has been compiled not only digitally, but also by hand and with experimental methods (i.e pasta titles, stamps, stencils, Letraset etc.)